
Please try another search
MUMBAI (Reuters) -India vaccinated more than 3.8 million teens aged between 15 and 18 years on Monday, as the country expanded an inoculation effort to protect its large adolescent population ahead of a looming wave of coronavirus infections.
The teenagers, many wearing their uniforms, queued at schools and health centres across the country as health workers injected them with Bharat Biotech's Covaxin - the only COVID-19 vaccine so far approved by India for those below 18 years.
The drive has come amid a sharp rise in cases in India, with the federal health ministry on Monday reporting 33,750 new infections and 123 deaths. The total number of cases of the fast-spreading Omicron variant detected in India was 1,700.
Data from the health ministry's CoWIN portal showed that 3.85 million doses of vaccines had been administered to those aged between 15 and 17 years on Monday.
Kishan Bhuyan, 17, queued with friends in the eastern city of Bhubaneswar after registering online for the COVID-19 jab.
"I was waiting for this (vaccination) for so long," Bhuyan, a high school student, said after receiving his vaccine. "I am now protected."
Several countries including the United States https://www.reuters.com/world/us/covid-19-hospitalization-surge-among-us-children-spurs-new-omicron-concerns-2021-12-30, Britain and South Korea https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/skorean-teens-drive-up-covid-19-cases-ahead-full-school-reopening-2021-11-03 have seen infections among children fuelling a rise in cases in recent weeks and have encouraged parents to get their children vaccinated.
India has more than 120 million people aged between 15 and 19 years, according to the country's 2011 Census, and the largest population of adolescents in the world, as per UNICEF estimates.
Some Indian states have set ambitious vaccination targets. Authorities in Gujarat, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, are hoping to give a first dose to 3.6 million teens this week.
"We have the capacity and we have the vaccines to cover most of the children. We appeal to parents to cooperate and ensure the children are vaccinated at the earliest," said Jai Prakash Shivahare, Gujarat's health commissioner.
LONDON (Reuters) - Two lawmakers from Britain's governing Conservative Party pulled their support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday over a damning report that detailed...
By Lucy Towers and Alistair Smout WEST DRAYTON, England (Reuters) - At west London's Hooked Fish and Chips, Bally Singh is struggling to keep the tills ringing for a British...
By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean state media has kept quiet about a recent flurry of missile tests amid an unprecedented coronavirus wave - perhaps to avoid...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.